Moving On Durham

Moving On Durham applied to Big Potential to help them develop their social lettings service for vulnerable people and to test if social investment was right for them as an organisation.

Social Impact

Moving On Durham work with young people aged 16–25 across County Durham who are homeless or affected by homelessness. Whether they face relationship breakdown, financial difficulties or are fleeing domestic abuse, Moving On support young people to find accommodation, manage money and provide support to help them sustain their tenancy and live independent lives.

2015 Moving On opened a social lettings agency. They lease good quality properties from private landlords and let them to young people, as well as providing tenancy training and other housing-related support. Last year they worked with over 300 young people providing advice and guidance to 227 and placing 46 into long-term accommodation.

How we helped

After successfully applying for a £23,400 grant they started working with approved provider, Numbers for Good. They conducted a detailed review of the housing and homelessness landscape in County Durham and built a financial model for Moving On that incorporated a wide range of scenarios and factors that could affect them in the future.

This led them to a number recommendations for how the business model for the lettings agency could look and how social investment might work for them.

What was the outcome?

For Moving On, this was new and unlike anything undertaken in the past. Traditionally, they had provided services commissioned by the local authority that had been tendered for and were time-limited or for services funded through Trust Funds.

“Through working with Numbers for Good we improved and increased our awareness of management and leadership within the organisation, both operationally and via the board. This will help us provide a better service to our young people. We also have a better understanding of how we must refine and develop our social lettings business.”

Sue Ryland, Project Manager, Moving On Durham

After working with Numbers for Good, Moving On made improvements across their entire organisation and after careful consideration actually decided that they were not yet ready for social investment. They decided to look again at investment in the near future but wanted to develop their social lettings business first to increase the chance of successful investment.